Open Letter to Agent Jeff Herman

Dear Mr. Herman,

I enjoyed reading your letter in New Yorker. Ken Auletta's article, to which you replied, was sorely lacking because of its heavy degree of sympathy for the Big Six and its disinterest in the situation of self-published authors. Auletta, who is conventionally published like your clients, is clearly invested in the idea that authors who have achieved Big Six publication are innately superior to those who have not, and accordingly does not bother to speak to, or even think about, self-published authors as intelligent, creative people in their own right who are making proper use of a business opportunity which should have been theirs all along. While you did not say any of that -- I am the one saying it -- you did say "We should celebrate anything that enables independent publishing to stay alive." For this, I salute you, and further, I encourage you to seek a leadership role in AAR, whose current leaders (Lipskar, Hochman) are now openly in league with the Big Six and do not have authors' interest in mind.

Let me note, since this letter will be appearing publicly in venues that I control, that you do not represent the kind of material I write, and that accordingly, there is no basis for interpreting it as way to curry favor with you so that you will represent me. I am proudly self-published in North America since 2010 (now with a publisher in India since early 2012) and not seeking an agent in the United States.
Best wishes to you, and thanks for setting the record straight on the issues where Auletta erred.

Regards,

Matt Posner

http://schooloftheages.webs.com